New medical evidence for new ESA50?

I've noticed on this latest ESA50 i have, that it tells us only send what medical reports etc 'we already have & not to ask or pay for new information'.

But there's no way i feel comfortable just sending in medical evidence from 2yrs ago! Then i am reliant on them gathering new! no that doesn't seem good to me at all.

So i was planning on asking my GP to just write a short updated letter to send along with everything else, just to confirm that nothing has changed. He's done it willingly in the past & not charged me so am not expecting an issue there.

I desperately don't want to be called for a f2f as i get very anxious & the adrenaline-boost that the fear triggers makes me much more energetic & alert & so i look much better than i normally am, which gives a false impression of my physical state.

And i was under the impression that the more good quality paper evidence they get the less likely they are to need to do a f2f, so am really pretty scared about sending only 2yr old medical evidence.

But honestly Maximus, the DWP, all of them, scare me to death, & I'm now panicking that
if i send the new evidence the person looking at the form may see it as my doing something 'wrong' and be angry & therefore look less favourably on my case.

That's probably a bit paranoid but there we are, my mental health issues include paranoia

Wondering what you guys think & what others' experiences have been?

thanks

Hi
Yes it does say that on the form but our guides advise everyone to get up to date evidence.
I'm not sure why the DWP put that on the form.
Maybe it should be challenged when they don't get up to date info from the medical professional and base their decision on old evidence?
Its definitely much better for the claimant to have fresh supporting evidence.

thanks foss so you don't think sending it would be breaking some new rule that they've set down about sending new evidence then?

I wondered if they'd done it because they are under some pressure/criticism from claimant advocates about the stress/difficulty/expense of having to get new evidence every time when conditions haven't changed....
now they've written that on the form they can say 'well we told them not to', while knowing full well that following that advice could harm our claim. Seems in line with the character of the DWP?

Camly91 wrote: thanks foss so you don't think sending it would be breaking some new rule that they've set down about sending new evidence then?

I wondered if they'd done it because they are under some pressure/criticism from claimant advocates about the stress/difficulty/expense of having to get new evidence every time when conditions haven't changed....
now they've written that on the form they can say 'well we told them not to', while knowing full well that following that advice could harm our claim. Seems in line with the character of the DWP?

Hi C91,

The DWP cannot tell a claimant "what" evidence they can provide to support their ESA assessment/reassessment !

The cynics amongst us may well assume that their "advice" is given in an effort to deter the claimant from sending all and any relevant evidence, new or otherwise, that supports their assessment !!

If you have not already done so, you might want to consider : Using The PDF Version Of The ESA50 Questionnaire

Whilst referring to the guides on this page, 2nd & 3rd links down :

ESA Claims Guides

See also :

How long do I have to complete the ESA50?

ESA50 too big for the envelope

&

Sending Documents to the DWP or Maximus. (aka CHDA, aka HAAS.)

bro58

bro58 wrote:

Camly91 wrote: thanks foss so you don't think sending it would be breaking some new rule that they've set down about sending new evidence then?

I wondered if they'd done it because they are under some pressure/criticism from claimant advocates about the stress/difficulty/expense of having to get new evidence every time when conditions haven't changed....
now they've written that on the form they can say 'well we told them not to', while knowing full well that following that advice could harm our claim. Seems in line with the character of the DWP?

Hi C91,

The DWP cannot tell a claimant "what" evidence they can provide to support their ESA assessment/reassessment !

The cynics amongst us may well assume that their "advice" is given in an effort to deter the claimant from sending all and any relevant evidence, new or otherwise, that supports their assessment !!

If you have not already done so, you might want to consider : Using The PDF Version Of The ESA50 Questionnaire

Whilst referring to the guides on this page, 2nd & 3rd links down :

ESA Claims Guides

See also :

How long do I have to complete the ESA50?

ESA50 too big for the envelope

&

Sending Documents to the DWP or Maximus. (aka CHDA, aka HAAS.)

bro58

thanks Bro58 that's what I was hoping.

I have followed B&W guides & advice to the letter & have been successful into SG without f2f twice, so as nothing has changed I am copying pretty much word for word the last form we sent in (in Jan2014) and i'm expecting the GP report to confirm that nothing has changed.

Hopefully it will go through without problem again, but of course the one difference is that it's now Maximus rather than atos so we shall see.

so grateful for all the support here

Noticed your question and thought you may find my recent experience helpful.

My ESA Support Group claim was recently reassessed, after two years, and I presented no new evidence for a long term and unchanged illness. In fact I haven't had new evidence to present for more than 10 years. I also rarely see my GP, as there is no treatment available and I manage my illness following specialist advice from many years ago.

Knowing that GPs are often sent a form to complete I specifically contacted the surgery to make sure my GP spoke with me before completing that form. My GP phoned me and obtained up to date information on my condition before completing the form he had been sent.

I also read the B&W guide Physical WCA June 15 and completed my ESA50 as thoroughly as I always do. Less than one month later I received the DWP letter confirming continued ESA with Support Group, without the need for a medical. I hope you are also successful.